


True North

by Geonn



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-25
Updated: 2011-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-15 01:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/155793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geonn/pseuds/Geonn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helen takes a lesson, and gives a lesson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	True North

"I'll find some way to muck it up. And then you'll be without your plane, and the country... the _world_ will be after me. 'The Woman Who Grounded Amelia Earhart.' No, thank you."

Amelia looked over at her. "Are you done whining?"

Helen pressed her lips together and shifted nervously in her seat. She looked through the windscreen at the countryside passing by beneath them. Cows grazing patiently, an occasional farmer pausing to watch them go by. To think it was just barely thirty years ago when Orville and Wilbur first took to the skies.

"I'm not going to fly the plane and that's that."

"Well, someone has to. And I'm tired." Amelia let go of the yoke and leaned back in her seat. She rested her hands on her thighs as the plane began to tilt dangerously toward the ground. Helen's stomach dropped and she grabbed the secondary yoke in front of her seat.

"You're mad!"

"The baby bird is out of the nest," Amelia said. "Don't you worry, Helen, I'll be right here next to you the whole time. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Helen swallowed, her chin trembling as she straightened them out again. Once the plane was flying normally, Amelia corrected Helen's grip on the yoke ever so slightly and whispered a few instructions to regain their lost altitude. Her hands were trembling, sweating underneath her gloves. She straightened her posture - one couldn't be relaxed while flying an airplane - and focused on keeping them above the treetops.

"Look at that. A natural." Amelia grinned and Helen, furious at her for the trick, found herself returning the smile. "Now, I'm just going to pop back and take a quick nap--"

"Don't you dare," Helen said. She would have grabbed Amelia's arm, but she refused to let go of the yoke. Amelia settled back in her seat and looked out the window. "Don't often get a chance to sightsee when I'm up here. Usually a bit too preoccupied for that."

Helen hadn't thought of it like that. "Look all you want. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this."

Amelia turned and looked at her. "It's a good skill to have, you know. In your line of... what is it, work?"

"It's the same as you and your flying. More than a career. It's my calling."

"I like that. A calling." She looked at her watch. "You want to try landing her?"

Helen frowned. "We have some time, don't we?"

"A bit."

"Then can we just fly for a while?"

Amelia grinned. "Sure we can."

#

When they landed, one of the mechanics helped Amelia guide the plane into the hangar. She had offered to let Helen land, but Helen adamantly refused. Amelia left the plane first, followed by Helen. The mechanic walked up to them, pushing his hat off as he approached. "Ma'am... uh, ma'ams. I saw you ladies when you arrived, but I kept tellin' myself it wasn't really you. But it is you..."

"Yes it is," Amelia said. She clapped a hand on Helen's shoulder. "The one and only Helen Magnus, right here on your airfield."

Helen blushed and the mechanic furrowed his brow. "I-I meant..."

"I'm just messing with you... Roy." She got his name off the stitched tag on his jumpsuit. "Would you like a photograph?"

"Well, if it's not too much trouble. No one will ever believe I had Amelia Earhart flying one of my planes. If you wouldn't mind..."

Amelia shook her head. "No problem. C'mon, Helen."

"I..."

"You flew her, too. So get in here."

Helen reluctantly stood with Amelia, the two of them framing the propeller of the plane. The mechanic took a photograph, blinding Helen for a moment. Amelia said, "Want to take one more just to be safe?" Roy agreed, and they were able to step away from the plane. "I'd love a copy of that myself."

Roy scoffed. "You've flown nicer planes than Bessie here, I know."

Amelia met Helen's eyes. "Don't want to remember the plane."

Helen blushed and ducked her chin as Amelia and the mechanic discussed getting copies of the photograph. When they were finally ready to leave, Amelia reached into her pocket. "In honor of your maiden flight, I got you a little memento. Now, it's not much..."

She handed Helen a small box.

Amelia looked back to make sure Roy wasn't watching before she kissed Helen on the cheek. "Welcome back to solid ground. May you not stay there very long."

 _Present Day_  
"You're a natural."

Kate smiled nervously, lifting out of her seat to look past the nose of the plane. They were over clouds now, so she couldn't see the ground even if she had wanted to. Her first years flying, Helen had actually preferred that; being between sky and cloud made sense. It was like swimming. It was when the ground was visible and the people looked like ants that she began to get nervous. But Kate was handling herself beautifully.

"You never know when you might have to commandeer a flight on a pick-up. Your pilot may be incapacitated, or you may simply have no other option of retreat than hijacking a plane."

"So you taught Will and Hank how to fly, too?"

Helen smiled. "Actually, no. I don't teach just anyone."

"So I'm special?"

She was teasing, but Helen simply said, "Yes."

Kate craned her neck and looked at their surroundings. "Uh, okay, I... have no idea which way to turn."

Helen withdrew a small compass from her pocket and held it flat in her palm.

 _"In case you ever get lost, this will tell you where to go."_

 _Helen held the compass, and the needle swam until it focused on magnetic north. It also happened to be pointing at Amelia. Helen smiled and said, "It seems to think you're where I belong."_

 _"Well you can't argue with science, Dr. Magnus."_

Helen found north and returned the compass to her pocket. She'd taken it on almost every overseas mission for eighty years, always kept it close at hand. When she nearly lost it during a mission in South America she considered placing it in the catacombs with the rest of the mementos that she'd collected over the decades. But something wouldn't let her put it away. She kept hoping that one day it would point her toward Amelia again.

"Doc?"

"Sorry. Lost in my thoughts." She nodded through the windscreen. "You're doing fine. We're right on course. I'll make sure we get to where we're going."

Kate smiled and relaxed slightly as she continued flying. Helen slipped a hand into her pocket to run her thumb over the carved face of the compass, thinking about the first time she took to the sky and the woman who had taken her there.


End file.
